The Independent Children’s Monitor (the Monitor) is a new organisation set up to provide independent oversight across the Oranga Tamariki System, monitoring those organisations that have custody and care of tamariki (children) and rangatahi (youth). The Monitor regularly reports to the Minister for Children with the results of the monitoring activity. Once released, the reports are freely available to the public.

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) has been given the job of building the Monitor and the initial phases of monitoring operations. Once new legislation is passed and the Monitor is well established, the Government has decided, in principle, to transfer the monitoring function to the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC).

We are now entering an exciting phase of building our monitoring team to be able to fully meet our monitoring and reporting commitments.

Our values are Kia Māia – to be Courageous; Kia Pono, Kia Tika – to be Trustworthy; Manaaki – to be Respectful; and Kia Huritao – to be Reflective. We are looking for people who share these values to join us.

Below you will find our current vacancies.

Please note that as MSD has been given the job of building the Monitor, all Monitor job applications will be processed through MSD’s recruitment system. Please follow the links below to be redirected to the MSD careers page where you can view the position description and apply for the role you are interested in.

The Tumuaki Kaitohutohu ki te Tumu Whakarae – Principal Advisor to the Executive Director is a new role and therefore the successful candidate has an opportunity to shape how the position will work. However, the role will certainly include working closely with the Tumu Whakarae – Executive Director as a key advisor, providing quality assurance and risk management support and holding the pen on a range of reports and other documents.

We are looking for someone with:

an established record of providing advice at a senior leadership level, demonstrating good judgement, intellectual flexibility and originality, and the capacity to think strategically

extensive experience managing relationships in a complex public sector environment

political savvy and the ability to quickly identify the best way to achieve positive results

the proven ability to write clear, concise reports, memos and other professional documents.

This role will be based in Wellington and is a fixed term role through to July 2021.

Given the evolving situation with COVID-19, we will work with short-listed applicants to determine the best approach for interviews, whether they are held in-person or virtually, and future work scenarios. The health and safety of our staff and the community is of the utmost importance.

The Kaitātari Aporei, Kaupapahere Rauemi/Principal Advisor Operational Policy and Practice develops new operational policies and associated practice documentation for the Monitor, and updates existing operational policies and practices, in a way which is in line with legislation and policy intent. The Principal Advisor provides advice to the General Manager Operations and the Managers Monitoring on operational policy to ensure accurate and full understanding and universal uptake of operational policy.

In this role you will work closely with our front-line monitoring team to ensure you have a comprehensive understanding of the monitoring function and operating model, so you can identify the priorities for operational policy development or improvement.

We are looking for people with:

previous experience in developing operational policy in a service delivery environment

proven ability to write clearly and concisely in a way that provides real clarity of expectations

strong relationship management skills and the ability to build professional networks.

Given the evolving situation with COVID-19, we will work with short-listed applicants to determine the best approach for interviews, whether they are held in-person or virtually, and future work scenarios. The health and safety of our staff and the community is of the utmost importance.

The Kaitātari Aporei, Rangahau me Aromātai/Principal Advisor Research and Evaluation will be responsible for leading high quality, accurate research and evaluation to support the delivery of frontline services and ensure the Monitor is operating a best-practice model that will support improving outcomes for children and young people. They will provide research and evaluation leadership and professional advice to the Monitor.

We are looking for someone with:

successful experience in a senior research and evaluation role in a relevant environment

the ability to quickly build knowledge of the Monitor’s business processes and the dynamics of the delivery activities

a comprehensive understanding of ethics and standards related to research and evaluation

strong skills in translating information and analysis into outputs which can be readily understood by the monitoring team

the ability to think conceptually, and to consider how new and emerging practices might be relevant to the business.

This role will be based in Wellington and is a fixed term role through to July 2021.